Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

 

From Faroes to the Isle of Man

Professor Gary Roach

 

Professor of mathematics Gary Roach entertained our membership with his display of the Faroe Islands and the Isle of Man.

Gary's early collection started, as do many, with him keeping many stamps in a shoebox. Eventually he decided he'd better sort them out! He started his Faroese collection because at that time, they hadn't issued too many stamps. 

He then, as an introduction to his display, gave a brief outline of the geography of the Faroe Islands. He went on to explain how the postal system started using the "Skyd" system, which meant that mails were transferred from one town/village to the next by a "carrier" until it reached its final destination. He then followed with examples of the various stamp cancellers used including the star, mute, bridge, fish and fat fish followed by "bisects" (i.e. 5 ore plus a bisected 4ore to make a 7ore rate) and overprints (a 2 ore done locally using a homemade die inserted in a chair leg by a Mr Andersson) which became necessary as a result of increases in charges and no suitable stamps being available. Second World War material followed with overprints of Danish stamps and many examples of censored, Red Cross, On Active Service and BFPO mail. Finally, for round one, Gary showed examples of maritime and air mail material including mail cancelled on the MS Smiril, the first TPO (Travelling Post Office) and some Paquebot marks.

For his second round Gary showed material from the Isle of Man, and showed a connection between the two lands, the Faroese having used the Isle of Man as a smuggling route to the UK. He showed examples of the many machine cancellers and dies used including Duplex, squared circle, single and double rings of varying sizes and examples of "instructional" marks including Registered and Postage Paid dies. Examples of "Internment" mails from both World Wars  along with further machine cancels from Krag, Hey Dolphin and Universal (all with and without attached slogans) machines followed some "private" markings principally of Snaefell, and Ken Whipp (a local hotelier), concluded Gary's display. 

Emslie MacPherson gave the Vote of Thanks.